INDIANAPOLIS – Josh Allen need not blow his own horn. His reputation precedes him like a brass band.

The University of Kentucky’s All-America linebacker came to the NFL’s scouting combine to do the drills, endure the interviews and solidify his standing for next month’s draft. Though Allen reiterated his claim as the best player available Saturday afternoon, there’s probably nothing he can say or do that could make a more powerful impression than videos that have already been viewed and tributes that keep on coming from former opponents.

If Allen is not made the No. 1 overall selection in the draft, it could be because personnel people do not believe their own eyes or their own ears.

“You got to think about him, you got to know he’s there, you got to know where he’s at, you got to make sure the line knows where he’s at if you’re trying to slide to him,” Missouri quarterback Drew Lock said. “I would think if you had any player on your team that does that, then pretty high praise to him.”

Allen recorded 17 quarterback sacks last season and forced five fumbles, and those numbers could have been stronger still had Kentucky chosen to deploy him in a narrow, traditional role rather than as an all-purpose dynamo. A dynamic edge rusher, Allen could also be found breaking up passes downfield on a regular basis.

As if to underscore his own versatility Saturday afternoon, Allen identified his position as, “defensive player.”

“You never get a full story of who somebody is by watching film, (not) until you really get in person and see him,” Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald said. “Honestly, (Allen) disrupted everything about our game. The way he was able to come off the edge so quickly, so powerful. By the time I hit my third step he was already there. He disrupts everything. I couldn’t pass the ball. He was making plays in the run game as well. He was definitely a big game-disrupter.

“Sadly for us, we underestimated his ability to really change a game.”

South Carolina offensive tackle Dennis Daley, whose 2018 schedule included Clemson, Georgia and Michigan, calls Allen “the best player I faced in college.” Texas A&M running back Trayveon Williams echoed that sentiment in an interview with The Athletic, adding, “He knew what plays were coming before we ran them.”

Though the Arizona Cardinals may spend their No. 1 overall selection on Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray or Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa — and could decide to trade the pick to fill numerous needs — Allen’s demonstrated disruptiveness should complicate their deliberations.

Consider: The New Orleans Saints held the No. 1 selection in the 1981 draft and chose Heisman Trophy running back George Rogers over the incomparable Lawrence Taylor.

Consider, too: Penn State’s Trace McSorley ran the fastest 40-yard dash of any of the combine quarterbacks on Saturday. Allen sacked him three times in the Citrus Bowl.

“His first step off the ball is something that is incredible,” McSorley said. “That’s one of the things you see that jumps out on film right away. His first step, how he will edge tackles, his speed and bend off the edge, he is long, he gets really good bend, and he is able to really attack the ball when he gets to the quarterback. He isn’t just looking for the sack. He’s looking for the strip-sack every single time.”

Elite athletes, as a class, are not easily impressed by other elite athletes. Yet to listen to Allen’s rivals and teammates rhapsodize about him was to suspect you had stumbled into a testimonial dinner.

“Josh is an amazing dude,” fellow Kentucky linebacker Jordan Jones said of Allen on Saturday. “I think Josh is the No. 1 pick, first round, first pick. ... He proved (to) everyone why he should be the No. 1 pick. He’s done nothing but prove himself.”

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